Zhonglu Bangzi, also known as Shanxi Bangzi, referred to as Jin Opera, is a local drama that the people of our province like to see. According to the relevant historical sources, it has a history of nearly 200 years. It was first formed in ten counties of Taiyuan Prefecture and eight counties of Fen, and then gradually expanded to the vicinity of Taiyuan, the east and west mountains and the vast areas of northern Shanxi, and with its unique artistic charm, it was far away in Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Hebei, Gansu, Sichuan and other provinces.
area, and in the Qing Dynasty Guangxu period to this century.
In the twenties and thirties, there was an unprecedented prosperity and prosperity. There are many classes and societies, celebrities gathered, more than 500 kinds of repertoire performed, ** singing, performance is becoming more and more perfect, forming a simple, fresh and enthusiastic artistic style, which has been welcomed and appreciated by the urban and rural people of our province, and is famous inside and outside the Great Wall, famous in Beijing and Tianjin, but it is difficult to find the relevant historical materials and records of Jin Opera when opening the historical records and classics of our province. The geisha of the old society were soft-spoken, who would be willing to set up a monument for them? Recently, the "Centennial History of Jin Opera" jointly published by Shanxi People's Publishing House and Shanxi Provincial Drama Research Institute has provided a lot of valuable historical and artistic materials, filled the "blank" in the history of Jin Opera, and sung a passionate ode to the long history and glorious achievements of Jin Opera, which is really a very meaningful work.
"Historical Words" by Wang Yong, an old artist in our province who is nearly ninety years old.
The old gentleman narrated that it was enriched and compiled by Comrade Liu Jucai and Comrade Duan Shuren of the Provincial Drama Research Institute. It truly and exhaustively describes the rise and fall of Jin opera in the ten counties of Taiyuan Prefecture in the past 200 years from the middle of the Qing Dynasty to the beginning of liberation; Talking about more than 50 well-known troupes from Daoguang and Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty to the present, more than 200 outstanding artists, as well as many performances, anecdotes, jokes, customs and folklore and other rich historical materials, it vividly shows the historical style of Zhonglu Bangzi in its birthplace. It is informative, fluent, fair, and interesting.
Reading and appreciating also has a certain academic research value, providing valuable reference materials and artistic appreciation for the majority of professional opera workers, researchers and opera lovers, which is worth reading.
After reading it a few times, I have the following feelings:
1. "Historical Words" not only makes us understand the appearance and development trajectory of Jin Opera as a representative opera in Shanxi, but also sees the political, economic and social conditions in various historical stages in the vast areas around Taiyuan, but also further stimulates our love for Jin Opera art and deep feelings for our hometown! "Tales of History" can be called a wonderful work that studies the culture and customs of Shanxi opera.
2. Through the vivid depiction of more than 50 well-known troupes and more than 200 famous singers, the book seems to let us see their colorful stage practices and exquisite artistic characteristics. Several generations of famous singers have been carrying unique skills, passing on the torch from generation to generation, teaching skills and tempering each other, showing us a colorful gallery of characters, leaving behind many precious artistic legacies, and providing a powerful reference for us to revitalize and prosper opera. It can be predicted that in the future, as time goes by, people will become more aware of its special value.
3. Through the exploration and study of the trajectory of the rise and fall of Jin opera over the past century, we can not only see the arduous creation and artistic style of artists in the past dynasties; At the same time, we can also find some artistic laws with guiding significance: for example, reform and innovation can be vigorous, conservative and rigid will inevitably degenerate and decline, opera must take the road of "elegance and common appreciation", and breathe with the people with the same fate, once opera is separated from the people, it will inevitably go backwards and disappear, and so on, which is not also of certain practical significance to our revitalization of Shanxi's drama art today?
Originally published in Taiyuan**, April 12, 1986).
Zhao Huayun: Editor-in-chief of "Drama Friends", national first-class screenwriter.